Recession Fears in US Drag Arab Markets into Another Day of Losses

An investor passes in front of a screen displaying information on the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) in Riyadh. (Reuters)
An investor passes in front of a screen displaying information on the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) in Riyadh. (Reuters)
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Recession Fears in US Drag Arab Markets into Another Day of Losses

An investor passes in front of a screen displaying information on the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) in Riyadh. (Reuters)
An investor passes in front of a screen displaying information on the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) in Riyadh. (Reuters)

Fears of recession in the American economy, the decline in global markets - from stocks to oil to cryptocurrencies – led to a wave of sharp losses in Middle Eastern markets on Monday, ranging between 4.5 percent and 0.9 percent, for the second consecutive day.

The UAE markets topped the declines in the Arab region, as the Dubai Financial Market Index recorded losses of 4.5 percent, reaching 4,045.9 points, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Market Index fell by 3 percent to 8,974.69 points.

In Cairo, the EGX30 Index concluded trading on Monday with losses amounting to 2.3 percent, reaching levels of 27,840.64 points, and the Egyptian pound fell against the US dollar to 49.5 pounds, the lowest level since March 11.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) decreased by 2.1 percent, or by 249.91 points, to close at the level of 11,504.46, with trades worth SAR 10 billion.

The General Market Index of the Kuwait Stock Exchange closed Monday’s trading at a decline to the level of 33.6927 points, or 2 percent, while the trading volume reached 260 million shares.

The Bahrain Stock Exchange Index suffered losses of 1 percent, reaching 1,931 points, while the Bahrain Islamic Index closed at 782.85, a decrease of 24.76 points.

The Muscat Securities Market Index closed down by 0.97 percent at 4602.25 points, a difference of 44.9 points from the last trading session, which reached 4647.20 points. The market value recorded a slight decrease of 0.3 percent.

On the other hand, the Qatar Stock Exchange index stabilized at 10,057.23 points after declining in the previous session by 0.7 percent to 10,057.13 points.



Safe-haven Gold Firms on US Recession Fears, Rate-cut Bets

Marked ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a cart at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
Marked ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a cart at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
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Safe-haven Gold Firms on US Recession Fears, Rate-cut Bets

Marked ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a cart at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
Marked ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a cart at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

Gold prices drifted higher on Monday, aided by worries that the United States could be headed for a recession and rising bets that the Federal Reserve will likely need to start cutting interest rates aggressively.
Spot gold rose 0.14% to $2,446.83 per ounce, as of 0519 GMT, after falling 1% earlier in the session, Reuters said.
US gold futures rose 0.8% to $2,488.50.
"Gold is picking up safe-haven flows, with financial markets in a risk-averse mindset to start the week," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
"Markets are in a flux about the US economic outlook and whether rate cuts will arrive quickly enough from the Fed."
Share markets tumbled and bonds rallied in Asia as US recession fears sent investors rushing from risk assets.
Data on Friday showed that US job growth in July fell short of expectations, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.3%, pointing to possible weakness in the labor market and greater vulnerability to recession.
Traders are pricing a more than 70% chance of the US central bank lowering rates by 50 basis points in September, compared with an 11.5% chance a week earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding bullion.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin maintained a cautious outlook, stating he is not ready to adjust his monetary policy.
Investors will keep a tab on the final July S&P Global services and ISM on-manufacturing PMI due later in the day.
They also kept a close eye on the Middle East conflict, with the Pentagon announcing that the US military will deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East to strengthen defense against threats from Iran and its allies, Hamas and Hezbollah.
Spot silver was down 0.4% at $28.43 per ounce, platinum fell 1.23% to $946.10 and palladium declined 0.9% to $882.09.